The Philadelphia Eagles need to land a legit X wide receiver

There weren’t a lot of positives to take away from the Philadelphia Eagles‘ loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Now granted, that isn’t because the team played particularly poorly or the “game film was burned,” but because the Eagles largely rolled with their second-teamers across the board save for brief cameos by Jason Kelce and DeVonta Smith against a Dallas Cowboys squad playing virtually every healthy starter they had at their disposal.

Sure, some players shined, like the Eagles’ depth lineman, Milton Williams, and deep bench reserve running backs like Boston Scott and Jason Huntley, but for the most part, the game featured a ton of players who were outgunned by their Cowboys counterparts and a few unfortunate injuries to reserve players like Tyree Jackson and Andre Dillard.

But by far the worst offenders in the game, even more than Kerry Vincent, the trade deadline-acquired ex seventh-round pick out of LSU who got demolished in coverage, were the team’s wide receiving corps save Smith and Quez Watkins, as not a single member of the group looked worthy of a roster spot long-term. In a league where some teams go five deep at wide receiver, the Philadelphia Eagles have two.

The Philadelphia Eagles need to land a complementary wide receiver in free agency.

DeVonta Smith is probably best suited to play flanker at the NFL level.

Now granted, that isn’t a knock against Smith personally, as he can quite literally play at any wide receiver spot across the formation – and should probably be used more in the slot (more on that here) – but because he’s on the lighter side and has very good speed, his ideal application would be off the line without having to immediately take contact from an opposing cornerback.

And as for Quez Watkins? Well, he has spent the majority of his snaps in 2021 in the slot – 525 on the inside versus 223 out wide – and has taken to the spot incredibly well. Even if Watkins and Smith could theoretically cycle between the slot and flanker spot both interchangeably and situationally depending on the play call, neither are ideally suited to play the X receiver spot on the outside.

Regardless of whether JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Jalen Reagor, and Greg Ward are back with the team in 2022, finding a proven X receiver to fill out the offense would be incredibly beneficial to the success of Jalen Hurts as a passer, Nick Sirianni as a signal-caller, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense as a whole.

Fortunately, there are a few nice options available in free agency, via the draft, or even on the trade market that could fill that hole nicely and give the Eagles the sort of balanced offensive attack they’ve sorely been missing all season long.

My personal preference? Land two quality options, one bigger name, and one more middle-of-the-road player and let the best five-to-six players win.

As far as bigger named players are concerned, there are a slew of options worthy of Howie Roseman’s consideration, from Mike Williams and Allen Robinson in free agency to USC’s Drake London in the draft, and even the current talk of the town Calvin Ridley, who played with both Smith and Hurts at Alabama before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

And as for mid-level guys? Well, there are players like Chris Conley, Zach Pascal, and Clemson’s Justyn Ross who could look pretty good in midnight green.

Heck, if Roseman wants to go crazy and dip back into his Super Bowl-winning well, he could always go out on a limb and re-sign Mack Hollins, who has a few nice games for the Miami Dolphins both on offense and on special teams so far this season. After two and a half seasons away, that would certainly be something.

With DeVonta Smith happily on the sidelines as the proud holder of the Philadelphia Eagles’ all-time rookie receiving yards record, Nick Sirianni gave the rest of his receiving corps three quarters to put something good on tape and prove they deserve a spot in the team’s long-term future. Of the four other receivers on the roster, only one, Quez Watkins, shined, with both Jalen Reagor and JJ Arcega-Whiteside recording horrible drops and bad efforts. If the Eagles are smart, they’ll make sure they have a few more options on their roster when camp opens this summer, hopefully ones who can play well at the X spot.